NFC Championship: Resilient Vikings take cue from Zimmer
Eden Prairie, Minn. — Mike Zimmer was already smiling more than usual, sporting a relaxed look of satisfaction rarely revealed in public during the NFL season, when he really let his guard down a few minutes into his postgame news conference deep inside Minnesota’s still-buzzing stadium.
“Hey, let’s open these things up!” Zimmer blurted out mid-sentence, prodding a Vikings official to push the button that removes the window shades and allows the premium ticket-holders in an adjacent lounge to peer in the room.
His wish to interact with the customers who cheered the Vikings on to a last-play divisional round victory was granted.
Zimmer then proceeded to slowly and rhythmically clap above his head, dignifying the ritual “Skol” chant performed by the purple-clad fans at each game honoring the area’s Scandinavian heritage and the team’s nickname.
“You deserve it!” Zimmer said, again interrupting his own answer to acknowledge the crowd.
From peers around the league to players in the locker room to people up and down the organization, there’s a strong sentiment that Zimmer has earned this, too, pulling within one win of a Super Bowl appearance.
The way the Vikings finished their 29-24 victory over New Orleans on a last-chance 61-yard touchdown pass from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs suggested they’re on some kind of charmed path, an uncharted territory for this championship-deprived franchise. Zimmer, for his part, has experienced his own share of painful setbacks.
More: NFC Championship: Underdog status suits Eagles
“I just think he was so proud of us,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “Proud of us for fighting until there were zeros on the clock.”
Zimmer is only here, preparing the Vikings for the NFC title game in Philadelphia on Sunday, because he himself resisted the urge to quit.
After being passed over for so many head coach vacancies during a six-year run as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator, Zimmer nearly canceled a second interview in Minnesota in 2014 after a different team that considered him chose a different candidate. He ignored the discouragement in his head, instead accepting the offer to become the ninth head coach in team history at age 57.
That first season, the Vikings improved by two wins to finish 7-9 with rookie Teddy Bridgewater forced into action ahead of schedule at quarterback and running back Adrian Peterson absent for all but one game because of the child abuse case and subsequent NFL discipline dispute he was involved in. In 2015, they went 11-5 and ended Green Bay’s four-year hold on the NFC North title.
The potholes in the road were waiting, though.
Blair Walsh’s 27-yard field-goal try went wide left at the end of the one-point wild-card round loss at home to Seattle.
The 5-0 start in 2016 was washed away by a torrent of season-ending injuries, including Bridgewater, Peterson and several offensive linemen.
The first quarter of the 2017 season brought knee injuries to quarterback Sam Bradford and running back Dalvin Cook, who needed reconstructive surgery to repair a torn ACL.
The Vikings didn’t blink, though, particularly with the experience of 2016 so fresh. Case Keenum deftly took over for Bradford, and Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray became a productive backfield tandem.
Extra points
A Pennsylvania man accused of having punched a police horse in the face after being ejected from Saturday’s Eagles game because he was intoxicated and didn’t have a ticket has been charged with assault.
... Ben McAdoo, who was fired as Giants coach in December after going 2-10 and benching star quarterback Eli Manning, is interviewing Tuesday to be the offensive coordinator for Cleveland coach Hue Jackson.
... Quarterback Drew Brees says he knows he’d have leverage to shop around if the New Orleans Saints don’t reach an extension with him, the 39-year-old says he doesn’t plan to do that.
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Vikings at Eagles
Kickoff: 6:40 p.m. Sunday, Lincoln Financial Field
TV: Fox
Line: Vikings by 3.5